A/N: having issues with editing stuff so I've had to resort to shorter chapters to maintain the flow. Worry not, I'll still update. It'll just be…er…well shorter… lol. Thanks for the reviews as always! It so keeps me motivated!
"Taker?" A feminine voice to his side dragged him out of the bottom of his fifth double. Blearily he glanced up and saw a lot of blonde hair and some nice boobs. He grinned. He shouldn't be this drunk. Had he eaten after the show? Mark couldn't remember.
Shaking his head to clear his vision, the woman in front of him finally jogged something in his memory banks.
"Torrie?" He asked just to be sure. She nodded.
"Mind if I sit down?" She asked and waited until he pulled out the chair to his left before she sat.
"What can I do for ya?" He slurred minutely and caught himself. Ooh, not good.
"I was just worried about you is all." Her voice was filled with all the compassion Sara's seemed to have been missing over the phone. It was nice.
"Don't worry about me darlin." He chuckled and leaned back motioning for the waitress and another round. "I'm fine."
"You don't look so fine." She frowned and reached over to touch his arm.
The alcohol sent the contact straight to his groin. He pulled his arm back and tried to scoot his chair away. It didn't work. "Maybe I should go get someone to help you back to your room?" Mark shook his head furiously and regretted it immediately. Everything spun.
"I thank ya little girl but I swear I am jus' fine." He thought it sounded all right. Judging from the look in her eyes, he was wrong. And so what if I'm not fine? He thought to himself as she reached further to touch his arm again. It gave him chills. Mark shook his head and found the concern he'd seen in her face a moment ago suddenly quite patronizing.
"Taker…"
"Leave me be." He muttered and retrieved his arm from her grasp for the second time just in time to pay the nice waitress as she set down his sixth Jack and Coke. "It's a double right?" He asked her somewhat forlornly as he handed her a twenty and instructed her to yet again, keep the change. She assured him it was and wandered away.
"Mark…" She tried again and reached for him. The big man fixed her with a tight glare.
"I think you'd better go away now." Before I forget I'm married. He finished in his head. The thought gave him pause. Not once since they'd gotten together had he found himself even considering another woman but here he was staring down the very low cut shirt of a coworker. Good Lord… This was definitely his last drink.
Torrie's eyes narrowed as she stood up and walked away without saying a word.
Well, at least that crisis was averted. He thought to himself and fell to staring into the dark liquid in his glass.
"But what's the real problem?" He sighed and tipped back his drink, draining it in one long swallow. Mark shook his head and set the glass off to the side. There was no sense in worrying anymore that night. The problem would fix itself. They always did. And if it didn't…
The very idea sent a chill down his spine.